Chai Brady
Sr Orla Treacy IBVM Irish missionaries continue to uphold dignity and human rights in some of the most challenging countries across the world, particularly where “there’s a lot of suffering”.
The Director of the Loreto Sisters mission in Rumbek, South Sudan, who runs two schools and a healthcare clinic said that “over the years we’ve had different wars in and out of the country and different disputes and hunger – there’s a lot of suffering”.
Sr Orla Treacy IBVM told The Irish Catholic her faith has helped her through very challenging times, and that “when you’re dealing with people with a lot of suffering, there’s a lot of trauma”.
“You have to draw deep, and faith and prayer has been very important for me in the midst of all of that. Just putting myself at the feet of the cross and saying ‘Here I am, God, what can I do? Give me the strength’,” Sr Treacy said.
“When you hit a lot of pain, you have to dig deep in order to survive. And I’ve been very graced and very lucky to have had a good prayer life in the midst of it all.”
She added that working with young people “will always give you life. Young people are the same the world over, they’re always searching for more, searching for truth, searching for justice. And that’s a beautiful ministry as well”.
Fr Shay Cullen SSCME who is based in the Philippines and has been at the forefront of fighting against the sexual exploitation of children through the PREDA (People’s Recovery Empowerment Development Assistance) foundation said his faith is based on “doing all the good we can do and always opposing the structures that create evil like Jesus of Nazareth did – this is our model”.
“He stood against the structures of the time and tried to change them. He challenged the temple authorities and became a rebel and activist for justice and changing the whole society. Then they executed him … now I hope that won’t happen to me but we have to take a stand in opposing the evils within the society and continually speaking against it,” he said.
Vice-chair of the board of Misean Cara Sr Josephine McCarthy, a Presentation Sister who spent over 20 years in Ecuador and Peru and who recently visited several missions in Kenya that are sponsored by Misean Cara hailed the work being done by missionaries, adding that Irish people are not aware of how “immersed” they are in supporting communities around the world.
Sr McCarthy said: “Missionaries are very much on trend with international development and sometimes leading the way. People in Ireland maybe are not aware that they are so much at the forefront in development in those countries. With international development very often the emphasis was on huge projects coming into area whereas the thinking now in international development is that locally led development is actually much more sustainable in the long run. And they have stated that the people best placed for local development are missionaries because they live and work among the people.
“I think that Irish people aren’t aware that they are so immersed in the development of societies especially the empowerment of girls and women and they’re possibly not aware of the significance of that work. What I saw in all of the missions was great, and great value for money on the ground,” she added.